Electrical controller for steam plants, &amp;c.



PATENTED JUNE 11, 1907.

J. A. OLSON. ELECTRICAL CONTROLLER FOR STEAM PLANTS, &0.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 20, 1905.

r m 96.7 m a 2 M wifiases.

Nb. 856,417. PATENTED JUNE 11, 1907. q. A. OLSON. ELECTRICAL CONTROLLERFOR STEAM PLANTS, awn

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 20, 1905.

2 SHEETS-411E311? Z,

J j J7) J0 f Ff wz i ximsw. EJ627707.

Q? will? .6? 029027.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELECTRICAL CONTROLLER FOR STEAM PLANTS, &c.

Specification of Letters Patent...

Patented June 11, 1907.

Application filed March 20, 1905. Serial No. 251,028.

To all whom it um/y concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN A. OLSON, a citi zen of the United States,residing at Minneapolis, in the county of llennepin and State ofMinnesota, have invented certain new and usei'ul Improvementsinflfllectric Controllers for Steam Plants, &c.; and I do hereby declare the following to be a lull, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

My invention has for its object to provide an improved electricalcontroller, adapted for use as an automatic heat regulator, and

for other purposes, and to this end, it consists of the novel devicesand combinations of devices hereinafter described and defined in theclaims.

The invention applied to open and close a valve of a steam or hot waterheating system, is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, whereinlike characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a view inside elevation, with some parts broken away,showing the improved automatic heat regulator. Fig. 2 is a verticalsection taken approximately on the line 0s? of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is ahorizontal section taken through the device on the line m x of Fig. Fig.4 is a detail in elevation, showing a reversing switch, and a springkicker for moving the same. Fig. 5 is a view in diagram, illustratingthe wiring of the device, and Fig. 6 is a view of the revers ing switchwith the parts turned upside down.

' The numeral 1 indicates one of the steam or water circulating pipes ofa heating system, shown as having horizontal and verticalsectionsconnected by a Tcoupling 2,-aifording a valve seat, and having at itsupper end a plug 3. Circulation through the pipe 1 is adapted to be cutelf by a valve 4, the stem 5 of which works vertically upward throughthe plug 3 and through a stuiiing box 6,

shown as applied to said plug. In this ap plication of the invention,thevalve stem 5, has a supplemental section 5*, the upper end of whichis threaded.

For an important purpose, which will presently appear, the supplementalvalve stem or extension 5 tg said stem 5, such connection being prefera1y made by a sleeve 7, and a spring 8. Said sleeve 7is'rigidly connectedto the stem section 5 by a set screw 9, and a bushing 10 of insulatingmaterial is preferably placed is yielding'ly connected I around saidstem Within said sleeve. At its I lower end, the said sleeve 7 hasa'detachable cap nut 8 that engages the headed upper end of the stem 5,as best shown in Fig. 2. The spring 3 reacts against the head of thestem 5 and against an insulating washer 11 which is placed against theend of the stem section 5. tion by a bracket 12 rigidly secured thereto,and working slidably on a vertical guide stud 13 supported by a frame14. This frame 14 has a disk-like upper plate 15, a similar lo'wer plate16, and an intermediate shelf or arm 17. The said plate 16 has ahubrigidly secured thereto by a set screw 13. An insulating bushing 19 isinterposed between the plug 3 and the hub 16 for a purpose which willpresently appear.

electric motor which, as shown, is directly supported by a bracket 21mounted on the upper plate of the main supporting bracket 14. Of theparts of this motor, it is only necessary to particularly designate thecommutator the brushes 20" the lield magnet 20" and the pole pieces 120of said field magnet. The commutator 20 carries a spur pinion 22 thatmeshes witha spur gear 23. This spur gear 23 is rigidly, but detachablysecured, as shown, by. a set screw 24. to a hub-like nut 25. This nut 25works on the threaded end of the valve stem section 5, is looselyjournaled inthe plate 15, and below said plate, is flanged so that it isheld against endwise movement. rotary movements of the gear 23, actingon the valve stem through the rotary nut 25, the valve 4 may be raisedand lowered, ac cording to the direction of movement of said gear. Thedirection ol rotation of said gear, of course, depends upon thedirection of rotation of the motor armature. Rigidly secured to theshelf 17 of the bracket 14, is a plate 26 of insulating material, andsecured to this plate is a row of four fixed. contact posts 27, 28, 29,and 30. Pivoted to the insulating plate on the stud 31 is a vibratingswitch lever 32. This switch lever has one contact finger 33 that iselec trically connected therewith, and it carries insulated therefrom bya spacing block 36 or suitable insulating material. The two fingers 34and 35 are electrically connected with each other, preferably by beingformed from The stem section 5* is held against rota- 10" thattelescopes over the plug 3, and is The numeral 20 indicates a smallreversible As is evident, under ICC two other contact fingers 34 and 35that are IIO the same piece of metal, as shown in Fig. 6. These contactfingers, 33, 34 and 35, 006 erate with/tho four contact posts just notein a manner which will presently be described. One extreme position ofthe switch lever 32 and its fingers is illustrated in Fig. 2, and theother extreme position thereof is indicated in Fig. 4. To quickly movesaid switch lever from one extreme position to the other, at the propertimes, and under the control or action of the valve stem 5 -5 a.so-called spring kicker, is provided. This spring kicker involves anoscillatory bolt 37 which is pivoted to the bracket 14 at 38, and at itsfree end, has a telescopicallymovable head 39, the outer end of which ispronged and preferably carries a 1 small roller 40. A

' spring 41 reacts against a collar on said bolt 37 and against saidhead 39, to yieldingly force the latter outward.

A lever 42 is pivoted at its intermediate portion on the stud 31 beforenoted. At'its end, adjacent to the roller 40, the lever 42 is providedwith an approximately straight surface with which'said roller engages,and this surface terminates in laterally spaced lugs 43. At its otherend, said lever is provided with laterally spaced lugs 44 that act astappets, to alternately engage a stud or projection 45 on said switchlever 32.

The valve stem section 5 carries a pair or laterally projectinglongitudinally spaced tappet lugs 46, located one on each side of thefree end ofthe rod 37, 'andengageable alternately with the head 39.- Theexact vrelatiofi of these parts just described will more fully appear inthe description of the operation.

A thin shell or housing 47, preferably formed of wood fiber, or otherinsulating inaterial, is detachably'secured to the-plates 15 and 16ofthe bracket 14, and incloses the parts of the apparatus so fardescribed.

For automatically closing and opening the circuits to the field andarmature of the motor, under varyirfg temperatures, I thermostat. Thisthermostat may suitable form, such as a standard thermometer-haying apointer which is arranged to be vibrated, usually over a dial, bythermally actuated devices, not necessary for the purposes of this caseto consider. In Fig.- 5, this thermostat or thermometer ,is indicated indiagram, the case being designated by the numeral 48 and the pointerthereof being designated by the numeral 49. The numergrovide a als 50and 51 designate contacts applied to the face of the thermostat, one oneach side of the free end of-the pointer 49, and in position to beengaged thereby: It may be assumed that the pointer 49 will engage thecontact 50 under a low temperature, and will engage the contact 51 undera high temperature. The which is illustrated only in Fig.

e of anyv 5, is preferably as follows: The numeral 52 indicates thebattery, which is connected by a lead 53 to the stud 31 which afiordsthe lever pivot before described. The battery 52 is also connected tothe binding ost 28 by a lead 54 that includes the coil 0 the motor fieldmagnet 20. The bindin .post 29 is connected by a wire 55 to one o thecommutator brushes 20 and the other commutator brush is connected by awire 55 to the pointer 49 of the thermostat or thermometor. The contactpost ,27 is'connected by a wire 56 to the contact 50 of the thermostat,While the contact post 30 is connected by a wire 57 to the contact 51 ofsaid thermostat.

In Fig. 2, the valve must be assumed to be moving upward under theaction of the motor, the armature of. which is then rotating in thedirection indicated by the arrow marked through the lever 32. and finger33 of the contact post .29, thence through the wire 55 to one contactbrush 20', through thearmature 'of the motor thence out through theother brush and .the wire 55 to the pointer 49 of the thermostat, fromthence through the wire 56 to the contact post 27, thence through thecontact fingers 34 and 35 to the contact post 28, and from thencethrough the lead 54 and the coil of the field .magnet 20 back to thebattery.

When the valve stem is moved slightly farther upward than shown inFig.2, the

lower tappet 46 thereof will have forced the bolt 37 outward of its deadcenter with respect to its pivot, and the ivot of the lever 42, and whenthis occurs, t e spring 41, act-' ing on the sliding head 39,, causesthe said head to act upon the adjacent end of the tapIpet lever 42, andthereby throw the latter, wit a very quick action, into the positionshown Fig, 4. This movement of said tappet lever 42, by engagement ofits upper .tappet lug 44 with the stud 45 on the switch lever 32, throwssaid switch lever and its contact fingers, with a quick movement,- into'the position indicated in Fig. 4, thereby shifting the contactfingers33, 34 .and 35 thereof, into contact with the contact posts 29,28'and 27, respectively,-.as indicated by dotted lines in the diagramFig. '5. When this action takes place, as the motor circuit is brokenbetween the pointer 49 and the contact '5'1 of the thermostat, the-motorwill be stopped; When, however, .the temperature rises so as to move thepointer 49 into engagement with said contact 51, the motor circuit willbe closed, and the current will flow through the armature of the motorin a direction reverse from that indicated by the arrows and previouslytraced, but will flow through the coil of the field magnet in the samedirection as reviously described. As is evident, this wil cause thearmature of the motor to rotate in a direction reverse from thatindicated by the arrow marked thereon in Fig. 5, and under thisdirection of rotation, the valve .Will be closed. Under the downwardmovement of the valve and its stem, the switch lever 32, and its contactfingers, will be thrown back into the position indicated by full linesin Figs. 2 and 5; such movement being caused by the engagement of the up)er tappet lug 46 with the head .39 on. the boit 37.

There is such clearance between the two tappet lugs 46 and the head 39,and the cooperating parts are so arranged, that under a downwardmovement of the valve, the

switch lever 32 will not be moved until after said valve has beenclosed. The spring 8, of course, permits a considerable downwardmovement of the supplemental valve stem 5 after the valve has beenclosed, and it also affords a cushion between the said parts whichprevents the valve from being seated under excessive pressure.

The insulations' at and 19 prevent grounding of the motor circuit. Theinsulating case 47 covers up all of the parts that are electricallycharged when the' motor is in action. The current for operating themotoris, of course, supplied by the battery or source of energy 52'. 7

To prevent accidental movement of the switch lever 32, and to hold thecontact ingers thereof pressed nto the cooperating contact posts, atensi n or friction bar 58 is secured at its ends to'the plate 26, andpresses the upper surface of said lever, under friction. J The devicedescribed, while especially adapted for use as a heat regulator for hotwater, steam and hot air heating systems, is capable of many other uses.For instance, it is well adapted for use as an automatic means forregulating the supply of steam to a pump used to elevate water, and inwhich a floatactuated circuit closer and breaker may be used in lieuofthe thermostat.

From what has been said, it'will be understood that the mechanismdescribed is capable of a great many modifications within the scope ofmy invention as herein setforth and claimed.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates,is as follows 1. In a device of the character described, I

the combination with a reversiblefimotor and circuit connections theretoinvolving an automatic circuit maker-and-breaker and a motor reversingswitch, of a reciprocating stem or plunger driven from said motor, and aspring-actuated kicker independent of said switch and operative on saidswitch, when thrown to either side of a dead center, itself arranged tobe operated by said plunger, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with areversible electric motor, of a two part operating plunger, receivingreciprocating movements from said motor, the sections thereof beingyieldingly connected, circuit connections to said motor involving acircuit-maker-and-breaker and a reversing switch, a tappet lever,operative on said switch, and a sprin actuated kicker arranged to bethrown om one side to the other of a dead center, by said operatinglunger, and operating in turn on said tappet ever, substantially asdescribed,

3. In a device of the character described, the combination with areversible motor and electrical connections theretoinvolving a saidreversing switch, at the limits of its movement, an oscillating-bolthaving a spring pressed kicker head, operating on sai tappet lever, whenthrownto either side of a dead center, a threaded stem or plungerconnected to a controller, such as a valve, amotor driven sleeve,operating as a nut on said stem, and tappets on said stem-operatin onthe head of said bolt, to force the same t to one side and then toanother of dead center, substantially as described.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination with areversible electric motor and circuit connectionsthereto involving amotor reversing switch, of a p1v-- in presence of twov witnesses.

JOHN A.OLSON.

Witnesses:

E. W. JEPPnsEN, F. D. MERCHANT.

